(JWR) ---- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com)
THE WOMAN WAS 22 WEEKS PREGNANT when she sought the assistance of Dr.
Martin Haskell, the originator of the partial-birth abortion procedure, to
rid herself of her already-kicking child.

Haskell performed the first stage of the partial-birth abortion. He
inserted a seaweed-based substance into the woman's cervix and instructed
her to return the following day. In the usual course of events, the seaweed
absorbs the amniotic fluid from the womb and expands, thus slowly dilating
the cervix. The next day, new seaweed is inserted. On the third day, the
abortionist opens the cervix with his fingers, feels around for the baby's
legs and pulls them out of the birth canal. He rotates the fetus' shoulders
so that the baby's face is oriented toward the mother's lower back and then,
using scissors, he punctures the bottom of the baby's skull and suctions the
brain out through a tube.

But in this case, things did not go according to plan. The woman complained
of severe abdominal pain on the first night and, being far from Haskell's
clinic, reported to the emergency room of her local hospital, Bethesda
North, in Cincinnati. As she was being examined (she did not say she was
pregnant), the baby was born -- alive. Pediatricians and neonatologists came
running. The baby girl weighed in at 1 pound. The doctors decided that the
child was very unlikely to survive and instructed that nothing be done.

Connie Boyles, a nurse, and Shelly Lowe, a medical technician, saw the baby
girl gasp for air and were stunned. Lowe, knowing that the nurses were busy
caring for other patients in the emergency room, asked if she could hold the
child she dubbed "Baby Hope" until she died. The request was granted.

Lowe wrapped Baby Hope in a blanket and settled into a rocking chair for
what she imagined would be just a few minutes. She sang to her and stroked
her cheeks. "I wanted her to feel that she was wanted," Lowe explained
later. "She was a perfectly formed newborn, entering the world too soon,
through no choice of her own." The baby sucked on her lower lip, opened and
closed her hands, and moved a bit as Lowe held her. She also did something
else -- she continued to breathe on her own.

Dr. John Willke, a pro-life activist and former obstetrician, says he
doesn't quarrel with the initial determination made by the emergency-room
physicians that Baby Hope was too small and too premature to survive. But,
he says, when she was still alive and breathing room air 30 minutes after
birth, her status should have been reassessed. An excellent neonatal care
unit was a mere helicopter ride away. And she might have been saved.

As it is, nothing was done. After three hours, Baby Hope died in the arms
of the compassionate Shelly Lowe. The state of Ohio issued her a death
certificate. The cause of death was listed as "extreme prematurity secondary
to induced abortion." Would Dr. Haskell have issued her a death certificate
at his shop, or does he simply throw the bodies in the trash?

Very few premature infants survive when born before 23 weeks, though there
have been survivors at 22 weeks. Still, one has to wonder: If a woman who
did want her baby spontaneously aborted in an emergency room, would the
doctors have been so quick to give up on the child? Would they ignore the
signs of unusual vitality this infant showed? (Most premature babies have
trouble breathing without assistance. That this infant was able to breathe
room air was amazing.) Was Baby Hope's value as a human being secondary to
her value to the mother?

If we judge people's humanity by any standard other than that each is a
unique individual with G-d-given rights, we demean every person's dignity. A
child is a child. Would-be adoptive parents wait years and years or go
abroad in search of children to love.

Lowe was asked at a press conference what her position on abortion was. She
said she had been pro-choice but was now pro-life. What changed her mind?

Three hours.

JWR contributor Mona Charen reads all of her mail. Let her know what you think by clicking here.

05/13/99:Other high crimes05/10/99:Three cheers for uniforms05/05/99: Voucher opponents' worst nightmare05/03/99: Lessons of Columbine High04/28/99: Kevorkian is stopped04/26/99: "Senseless tragedy"?04/22/99: Hey, hey, ... Bubba04/19/99: Why we are in Kosovo04/15/99: Hooray for the NYPD04/09/99: How to do something about taxes04/06/99:Can the private sector handle foster care?03/31/99: The Flower Child goes to war03/29/99: Foreign-policy meltdown03/25/99: 'Just doin' it' 03/22/99: Return of pay equity?03/16/99: St. Hillary03/10/99: Rodney King in perspective03/08/99: Monica's story: No morals03/04/99: Not home but library alone:3/02/99: Tuning our racial sensitivities2/27/99: Cease-fire in war between sexes?2/23/99: Where were the religious voices?2/19/99: Depends what you mean by "acting"2/17/99: As Minn., goes so goes the nation?2/09/99: Prepare for post-impeachment spin2/03/99: Teaching morality2/01/99: What did he say?1/26/99: The truth about the Peace Process1/22/99: The vulgar decade1/19/99: Was Jefferson libeled by DNA?1/13/99: The backlash picks up speed1/11/99: Who invented politics of personal destruction?1/07/99: Shall we dance?1/05/99: Try him!12/30/98: The price of virtue12/28/98: The gift of giving12/22/98: Party of shame, party of shamelessness12/18/98: Wag the country12/16/98: Is this impeachment constitutional?12/14/98: Republicans find courage12/09/98: Nappy Hair and other racial slurs12/07/98: Stranger in a strange land12/02/98: Dangerous ground11/30/98: Involuntary fatherhood?11/24/98: Lies, damned lies, and sex lies11/18/98: Another victory for cowardice11/16/98: Separatism plus welfarism equals a dead end11/10/98: Did conservatism lose campaign '98?11/06/98: Democrat venality, Republican timidity11/04/98: Are girls being shortchanged?11/02/98: Believe the children?10/28/98: What 'Measure 58' would do10/26/98: The officers are bailing out10/20/98: Using Matthew Shepard's murder10/19/98: The school voucher that saved a family10/14/98: Are powerful women different?10/09/98: Can just sex be impeachable?10/07/98: Repeal Miranda10/02/98: Understanding the polls10/01/98: What school texts teach about marriage9/28/98: Fear of choice9/23/98: A fork in the road: Bubba's fate and ours9/18/98: Christianity and the Holocaust9/16/98: The national dirty joke9/11/98: Are we in crisis?9/09/98: Does Burton's sin let Clinton off the hook?9/07/98: Liar's Poker9/01/98: One, two, three8/28/98: Fat and folly8/25/98: When homework is a dirty word8/21/98: The unravelling8/18/98: The wages of dishonesty8/17/98: Sex, honor and the presidency8/12/98: Pro-choice extremist 8/10/98: Switch illuminates biology's role8/05/98: The presumption of innocence and the American way8/03/98: An American hero7/29/98: Lock up those who need psychiatric care7/24/98: Making the military more like us7/22/98: The 'Net sex hoax... and us 7/20/98: Disappointed by Cosbys7/15/98: Feelings, not morality, rule7/10/98: Guns as the solution?7/8/98: Teacher preacher 7/6/98: The China behind the headlines7/1/98: What is the First Amendment for?6/26/98: The Republican city6/24/98: Poison pen6/22/98: Clinton: inventing his own reality?6/16/98: Senator mom? 6/12/98: Wisconsin: a trail blazer? 6/9/98: These girls say no to sex, yes to excellence
6/5/98: Lewinsky's ex-lawyer would feel right at home as Springer guest6/2/98: English? Si; Republican? No! 5/29/98: The truth about women and work5/27/98: Romance in the '90s 5/25/98:Taxing smokers for fun and profit5/19/98: China's friend in the White House
5/15/98: Look out feminists: here comes the true backlash
5/12/98: The war process?
5/8/98: Where's daddy?
5/5/98: The joys of boys
5/1/98: Republicans move on education reform
4/28/98: Reagan was right 4/24/98: The key to Pol Pot 4/21/98: The patriot's channel 4/19/98: Child-care day can't replace mom4/15/98: Tax time4/10/98: Armey states obvious, gets clobbered4/7/98: A nation complacent?4/1/98: Bill Clinton's African adventure3/27/98: Understanding Arkansas3/24/98: Jerry Springer's America3/20/98: A small step for persecuted minorities3/17/98: Skeletons in every closet?3/13/98: Clinton's idea of a fine judge3/10/98: Better than nothing?3/6/98: Of fingernails and freedom3/3/98: Read JWR! :0)2/27/98: Dumb and Dumber2/24/98: Reagan reduced poverty more than Clinton2/20/98: Rally Round the United Nations?2/17/98: In Denial2/13/98: Reconsidering Theism2/10/98: Waiting for the facts?2/8/98: Cat got the GOP's tongue?2/2/98: Does America care about immorality?1/30/98: How to judge Clinton's denials1/27/98: What If It's Just the Sex?1/23/98: Bill Clinton, Acting Guilty1/20/98: Arafat and the Holocaust Museum1/16/98: Child Care or Feminist Agenda?1/13/98: What We Really Think of Abortion1/9/98: The Dead Era of Budget Deficits Rises Again?1/6/98: "Understandable" Murder and Child Custody1/2/98: Majoring in Sex12/30/97: The Spirit of Kwanzaa12/26/97: Food fights (Games children play)12/23/97: Does Clinton's race panel listen to facts?12/19/97: Welcome to the Judgeocracy, where the law school elite overrules majority rule12/16/97: Do America's Jews support Netanyahu?